Focus

In my last post I mentioned planners and journaling and how I have issues with both of those styles. Let’s chat about them for a bit.

The Corporate World

While being in the corporate world I heavily relied on my Franklin Covey Monarch binder system. Everything was in this planner, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g: meeting, calls, work assignments, maybe a lunch. I used it for 3 or 4 years with dedication. I planned the day before I left, looked at it in the morning to reassess priorities.

Once I was let go life changed, the need for this monstrous planner did not fit my lifestyle. I had more time for building our businesses, volunteer at school, crafting, lunches, networking and family time. Since I wanted to have all this going on I had to find time, productive time.

Journal Writing

I did a bit of research on journaling and thought this would be my ticket. Journaling provided me the ability to have a to-do list, keep track of various things like: reading, water intake, steps, meditating. THIS, however, was thought out and it just seemed so tedious that I didn’t even try. *sigh*

I’m press for time to do A – Z, I have no time to be designing! I know I have 168 Hours in a day and I would like to maximize that. Journaling seemed to take up a chunk so on we move to find something else.

Happy Planner calendar section

Happy Planner

My next attempt was The Happy Planner by Me and My Big Ideas. I had seen it pop up in my Pinterest feed and I loved it! The Happy Planner had the ability to add pages when necessary, it had a calendar, I could be CREATIVE. I was in heaven. I created my own meal planner with grocery list, a sheet to write quotes when I would read books because writing in books is EVIL! A page that list my ideas for crafts because who needs Pinterest for that. I carried this everywhere and it grew and it grew. The calendar wasn’t as useful after a while since my schedule is flexible and ever changing, it eventually got abandoned. The binder became too big for me to carry and it didn’t fit nicely in my purse. It became bulky and the pages we getting loose. Next.

Full Focus

PHOTO: Full Focus Planner

In comes the Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt. This planner is to be used on a quarterly basis which I thought was a great idea, who plans for the whole year? Ok, I kinda do as one of our business has conferences every quarter and monthly trainings. The video I saw was very intriguing as to how it was structured. The planner had pages for a to do list, time allocation, goals, achievements for the week, weekend plans and how to change things up. Lovely! I actually had to think about what I was actually doing. Structure to all my hustles was now here! Hallelujah!

Meh. I stopped using it after three months. I did learn that my days are repetitive with changing parts due to the types of hustles I’m doing. My times are flexible to move components, so a 9-5 workday schedule doesn’t really work., half a page is dedicated to a 9-5 schedule.

As I write this piece I think I’ll revisit this planner. I’ll watch more videos that are available and see what I can do to restructure my days. There are components that I love and quarterly sounds about right for changes in lifestyle, likes and business items.

I’ll let you know in 90 days if I’ve continued with the Full Focus Planner or if I’ve moved on to something else.

Hustle #1

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